NHS squandering millions on sex-swap surgeries

NHS England has spent over £5 million this past year on mastectomies for gender-confused women, it has been estimated.

According to figures obtained via freedom of information requests, 933 women underwent masculinising mastectomies between 2025-26. There were 1,115 the previous year, and 904 during 2023-24. The NHS estimates that each operation costs £5,800.

In addition, 322 women and 364 men underwent genital surgery in 2025-26 to resemble the opposite sex. The total spend on all three types of ‘trans surgery’ for 2025-26 is thought to be around £21 million.

‘Tragedy’

Helen Joyce, Director of Advocacy for women’s group Sex Matters, lamented the “tragedy”, noting that the “vast majority” of women undergoing masculinising mastectomies are under 25.

“These girls are at the peak age of being influenced by cultural and social activism, and often cannot grasp the regret that they may later feel. We know of detransitioners who have become mothers and grieve that they cannot breastfeed their babies.”

She emphasised: “These operations destroy healthy function and create a host of miserable complications, including a high likelihood of chronic pain, repeated infection and incontinence as well as sterility.

“Young trans-identifying people often have wildly unrealistic expectations of what surgery can achieve, and by the time they realise this it is too late. The NHS should not be providing treatment that does no good and a great deal of harm.”

‘Brutal pathway’

A Bayswater Support Group spokesman added: “Despite the Levy Review of the adult service highlighting severe malpractice and patient safety issues, there has been no accountability or recognition that an entire cohort of young and vulnerable adults are being exposed to life-changing medical and surgical harms.

“This is yet another example of the NHS exceptionalising patient safety and evidenced care when it comes to gender medicine.

“It’s hard to believe any other area of medicine would routinely submit young adults to such a brutal pathway to treat a condition of the mind, with no robust evidence of benefit and no follow-up, let alone expand such a service once these problems were exposed.”

An NHS spokesman said that an “updated service specification will be consulted on next year”, and claimed the broad increase in numbers “over the last five years reflects a global trend in more people coming forward for care for gender dysphoria”.